1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to a solar cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as existing energy sources such as petroleum and coal are expected to be depleted, interests in alternative energy sources for replacing the existing energy sources are increasing. Among the alternative energy sources, solar cells for generating electric energy from solar energy have been particularly spotlighted.
A solar cell generally includes semiconductor parts that have different conductive types, such as a p-type and an n-type, and form a p-n junction, and electrodes respectively connected to the semiconductor parts of the different conductive types.
When light is incident on the solar cell, a plurality of electron-hole pairs are generated in the semiconductor parts. The electron-hole pairs are separated into electrons and holes by the photovoltaic effect. Thus, the separated electrons move to the n-type semiconductor part and the separated holes move to the p-type semiconductor part, and then the electrons and holes are collected by the electrodes electrically connected to the n-type semiconductor part and the p-type semiconductor part, respectively. The electrodes are connected to each other using electric wires to thereby obtain electric power.